1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a batteryless starting and ignition system for an internal combustion engine, and more particularly to such a system including a battery replacement circuit which is connected in place of a conventional automotive lead-acid battery. A jumper cable connector is wired across the replacement circuit and a compatible jumper cable connector is provided to jump start the engine from an external power source.
2. Description of the Related Art
In portions of the western United States, massive agricultural irrigation systems often use standard automobile internal combustion engines to drive irrigation pumps. It is estimated that there are upwards of 100,000 of these automobile engines pumping water through irrigation systems in Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado alone. Generally the engines have been converted to run on natural gas, which is distributed to the engines via gas pipelines often paralleling the irrigation systems.
A typical operating cycle for these engines includes starting them up in the spring months and leaving them running continuously until the growing season is over in September or October. Thus, the engines are often in continuous operation for six months or more.
Although such engines are usually started only once or twice per year, it has been customary to provide a dedicated automotive lead-acid battery for each engine, with the batteries generally hauled out to the engines in the spring and removed in the winter. The batteries generally just sit beside or beneath the engines and are constantly exposed to the weather. This constant exposure to the elements, plus the fact that the batteries are continuously charged for months at a time, tends to severely shorten the effective battery life, with batteries often having to be replaced each season, or, at best, after two seasons. Furthermore, the irrigation systems are usually in remote locations and battery theft and/or vandalism is a constant problem. Of course, if a battery is removed or destroyed while an engine is running, the engine will shut off. The net effect is that each automotive battery is generally used for, at best, eight or so engine starts before it is discarded or stolen.
It would be desirable to simply omit the automobile batteries from irrigation system engines and just jump start the engines each spring from a service vehicle. To accomplish this, since all such engines include an electrical system with a conventional alternator and voltage regulator, the lead-acid battery would need to be replaced with a circuit which "fools" the voltage regulator and alternator by simulating the closed circuit effect of a lead-acid battery.